And if it doesn ’ t come right away , he will keep working until it does — because , to Connelley , if you ’ re not working and winning , then what ’ s the point ?
“ I had trouble playing sports in school because I was so competitive ,” Connelley says . “ I didn ’ t understand why the other kids weren ’ t as interested in winning as I was . If we played softball or volleyball or whatever , I wanted to win . We played ping pong , I wanted to win .
“ It may be unhealthy or whatever , but I believe competition makes us better . We tell each other on the team , sometimes your best ain ’ t good enough . You got to be better , and we find ourselves in that position sometimes . Like right now , we ’ re behind with our combination , but we ’ re going to find it . And we ’ re going to find stuff that ain ’ t normally found . We will keep digging until we find it .”
TWENTY YEARS AGO , when Connelley was still a wide-eyed 19-yearold , he ended up at a dragstrip with his girlfriend , who would become his wife not much later .
It had gradually got to this point as a racer , driving go-carts as a teenager , and then buying a ’ 98 Camaro when he turned 16 , making a down
“ I think she pretty well understood how involved I was in it ,” Connelley says . “ But my wife has sacrificed more than most women would even consider . They think they would until they have to get in there and do it . We don ’ t drive new cars , we drive just cars .” payment from the money he had saved for years . He moved to Mustangs a year later and by 19 , it was time to go racing .
In the meantime , his relationship with Michelle moved as quickly as turning on the last stage of nitrous and , two weeks after they met , they were at a dragstrip .
It was there at Mountain Park Dragway ( now known as Kentucky Dragway ), a small local track 53 miles from Connelley ’ s house where he made his first runs and found the woman who would stick with him through the peaks and valleys , and when it comes to drag racing on a relatively shoestring budget , there ’ s plenty of valleys .
“ I think she pretty well understood how involved I was in it ,” Connelley says . “ But my wife has sacrificed more than most women would even consider . They think they would until they have to get in there and do it . We don ’ t drive new cars , we drive just cars . I think her car is 15 years old , and mine ’ s 20 years old . We ’ ve sacrificed a lot of what people consider or think is supposed to make them happy . We sacrificed a lot of that stuff so that we can drag race . All of us on the team , we all sacrifice and stuff . But my wife has probably sacrificed the most , whether she realizes it or not .”
It ’ s something that drives Connelley each day . He ’ s pushed by success with his team and his
78 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 167